Systems and methods for determining label positions

ABSTRACT

Described in detail herein are methods and systems for a label position determination. A label position determination system can include labels mounted on the front face of the shelving units. The labels can include conductive patterns on the back face of the label. The conductive patterns of the labels can be electrically coupled with electrically conductive wires extending along a front face of a shelf. The system can further include a controller coupled to with electrically conductive wires, configured to transmit electrical pulses through the electrically conductive wires. The controller can determine at least one of: an identity of each of the labels mounted to the front face, whether a label has been mounted at an incorrect location on the front face of the shelf, or whether a label is missing from the front face of the shelf based on a response to the electrical pulse.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/427,537 filed on Nov. 29, 2016, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Large facilities can store many physical objects. Labels can identifythe physical objects. Accordingly, it is important the physical objectsand labels are in the correct position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments are shown by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings and should not be considered as a limitation of the presentdisclosure:

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a shelving unit 100 disposed in a facilityaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a diagram of wires disposed behind the labels along a frontfacing portion of the shelving unit according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of the back face of example labelsaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram of an electrical circuit formed usinglabels according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary label position determination system inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary computing device in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a label position determination systembased on a received identifier according to exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described in detail herein are systems and methods generating labels anddetermining label positions on shelves based on passive electricalcharacteristics of the generated labels. In exemplary embodiments, alabel position determination system can include labels mounted on thefront face of the shelving units. The labels can include conductivepatterns made up of conductive materials on the back face of the labeland machine-readable elements on the front face of the labels. Themachine-readable elements can be encoded with identifiers associatedwith physical objects disposed on the shelving unit. The conductivepatterns of the labels can be electrically coupled with electricallyconductive wires extending along a front face of a shelf. The system canfurther include a controller coupled to with electrically conductivewires, configured to transmit electrical pulses through the electricallyconductive wires. The controller can determine at least one of: anidentity of each of the labels mounted to the front face, whether alabel has been mounted at an incorrect location on the front face of theshelf, or whether a label is missing from the front face of the shelfbased on a response to the electrical pulse.

The controller can detect an impedance of each of the conductivepatterns based on an interaction of the electrical pulse and each of theconductive patterns and identify each label by querying a database usingthe detected impedance. The conductive patterns are formed to createparallel electrical connections or series connections with theelectrically conductive wires to alter the effective impedance of theelectrically conductive wires. The conductive patterns can generate aunique impedance. The controller can further calculate a time delay ortotal time of travel of a reflected pulse received by the controller inresponse to transmission of the electrical pulse by the controller,determine a position of the at least one of the labels along the frontface of the shelf is incorrect and transmit an alert in response todetermining the position of the at least one of the labels is incorrect.The controller can calculate the time delay by determining the timeperiod between transmission of the electrical pulse and a reflection ofthe electrical pulse from a location at which at least one of the labelsis mounted. The controller can calculate the position of the labels bybased on the determined time period.

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a shelving unit 100 disposed in a facilityaccording to the present disclosure. The shelving unit 100 can includeshelves 102 a-c and each of the shelves can include front portions/faces104 a-c. The front portions 104 a-c can be disposed at a predeterminedangle. Physical objects 108 can be disposed on the shelves 102 a-c. Alabel 106 can be disposed on the front portion of the shelf 104 b. Thelabel 106 can include a machine-readable element on the front face ofthe label. The machine-readable element can be encoded with anidentifier associated with the physical objects 108. Themachine-readable element can be a barcode or QR code. The label 106 canbe disposed at a predetermined position on the front portion of theshelf 104 b proximate to the physical objects 108. The back face of thelabel can include conductive patterns. Each of the different labels caninclude a different conductive pattern.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a wire 112 disposed behind the labels114 a-c disposed on the front facing portion 110 of the shelving unitaccording to the present disclosure. In exemplary embodiments, one ormore wires 112 a-b can be disposed on the front facing portion 110 ofthe shelving unit (as shown in FIG. 1A). The one or more wires 112 a-bcan be electrically conductive wires. The labels 114 a-c can includemachine-readable elements on the front face of the labels 114 a-c and aconductive pattern formed by a conductive material on the back face ofthe label. Each of the machine-readable elements can be encoded withdifferent identifiers representing different sets of like physicalobjects. Each of the labels can have different conductive patternsdisposed on the back face of the label. The one or more wires 112 a-bcan form a parallel or series electrical connections with the labels 114a-c. The one or more wires 112 a-b can be coupled to a controller 116which includes a source applied voltage and sensors.

In exemplary embodiments, a voltage in the form of one or moreelectrical pulses from the source applied voltage in the controller 116can be applied to the one or more wires 112 a-b. The one or moreelectrical pulses can travel through the wires and interact with theconductive patterns on the back of the labels 114 a-c. An impedance ofthe conductive patterns can affect the effective resistance of anelectric circuit formed by the wires and the conductive patterns. Theimpedance can differ based on the different conductive patterns on thelabels and can be unique to each label based on the conductive pattern.The sensors in the controller 116 can detect the impedance. For example,the impedance of the conductive pattern on the back face of the label114 a-c where each label 114 a-c can have a conductive pattern thatforms a different impedance. For example, the conductive pattern on thelabel 114 a can have an impedance that is different than the impendenceof the conductive pattern on the label 114 b.

As mentioned above, the wire can form a parallel or series electricalconnections with the conductive pattern on the back face of the label.In the event, the electrical connection is a series circuit, the one ormore electrical pulses can travel in a single path through theconductive pattern of a label. In the event, the electrical connectionsis a parallel connection, the one more electrical pulses can travel inmultiple paths through the wire and the conductive pattern of a label.The one or more electrical pulses can travel through each conductivepattern electrically coupled to the wire(s) and return to the first endto form a closed loop circuit.

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of the back face of the labels accordingto the present disclosure. As mentioned above, the back face of thelabels 120 a-b can include conductive patterns 122 a-b. The conductivepattern 122 a can be different than conductive pattern 122 b. Theconductive patterns 122 a-b can be formed by conductive material thatconducts electrical energy. Accordingly, the different conductivepatterns 122 a-b can have different impedances. The conductive patterns122 a-b can create series and/or parallel electrical connections withthe one or more wires on the shelving units to alter the effectiveimpedance of the at least one or more wires.

FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram of an electrical circuit formed bymounting labels on the shelf, where the conductive patterns on the backfaces of the labels electrically couple to one or both of the wires152-154 based on the layout of the conductive pattern according toembodiments of the present disclosure. As mentioned above the one ormore wires 152-154 disposed on the front face of the shelving unit canbe used to form an electrical circuit 138 with the labels. Theelectrical circuit 138 can include a controller 130 which includes asource power supply and sensors at a first end 142. The electricalcircuit 138 can further include labels 134, 136, 140, 146-150 that canbe disposed along the front face of the shelf such that the conductivepatterns on the back faces of labels electrically couple to one or bothof the wires 152-154 forming the electrical circuit 138. The passiveconductive patterns on the back face of the labels 134, 136 and 140 cancause the labels to form series connections between the wires 152-154,where each of the labels 134, 136, and 140 are in parallel to eachother, and the conductive patterns on the back face of the labels146-150 can cause the labels to form parallel connection with one of thewires 152-154. In exemplary embodiments, the labels can be generatedsuch that their correct placement on front face of a shelf forms theelectrical circuit 138 with alternating series and parallel connectionsbased on the layouts of conductive patterns of the back faces of thelabels.

One or more electrical pulses can be generated by the power source inthe controller 130 and can travel in the direction indicated by thearrows 132. For example, the one or more electrical pulses can travelfrom the power supply from the first end 142 of the electrical circuitto the second end 144 and interact with the back face of each label 134,136, 140, 146-150. Each of the electrical pulses can be reflected backto the controller 130 in response to interacting with the conductivepattern on the back face of each label 134, 136, 140, 146-150. Thecontroller 130 can further calculate the time delay of a reflected pulsereceived by the controller in response to the transmission of theelectrical pulse by the controller 130. Based on the time delay thecontroller 130 can calculate the distance the label is positioned fromthe controller 130.

The sensors in the controller 130 can detect or sense the impedances ofthe conductive patterns based on the one or more electrical pulseinteracting with the conductive patterns on the back face of each label134, 136, 140, 146-150. As mentioned above, a unique conductive patterncan be formed on the back face of each label 134, 136, 140, 146-150 suchthat the impedance of each conductive pattern can be different. Thecontroller 130 can transmit the calculated time delay and the detectedimpedances to a remote computing system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary label position determination system 250in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Thelabel position determination system 250 can include one or moredatabases 205, one or more servers 210, one or more computing systems200, and shelving units 240. The shelving units 240 can include acontroller 255 and one or more wires 260. In exemplary embodiments, thecomputing system 200 can be in communication with the databases 205, theserver(s) 210, and the controller 255 via a communications network 215.The computing system 200 can implement at least one instance of aposition engine 220 configured to implement label position determinationsystem 250.

In an example embodiment, one or more portions of the communicationsnetwork 215 can be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless wide area network(WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, aportion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellulartelephone network, a wireless network, a WiFi network, a WiMax network,any other type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks.

The server 210 includes one or more computers or processors configuredto communicate with the computing system 200 and the databases 205, viathe network 215. The server 210 hosts one or more applicationsconfigured to interact with one or more components of the computingsystem 200 and/or facilitates access to the content of the databases205. In some embodiments, the server 210 can host the position engine220 or portions thereof. The databases 205 may store information/data,as described herein. For example, the databases 205 can include aphysical objects database 230 and the facilities database 245. Thephysical objects database 230 can store physical objects disposed in afacility. The facilities database 245 can include information associatedwith the facility including designated positions of labels throughoutthe facility. The databases 205 and server 210 can be located at one ormore geographically distributed locations from each other or from thecomputing system 200. Alternatively, the databases 205 can be includedwithin server 210.

In exemplary embodiments, shelving units 240 storing physical objectscan be disposed in a facility. A set of labels can be disposed on thefront facing portion of the shelving units 240 and wires 260 can bedisposed underneath the labels. The wires 260 can be electricallyconductive wires. The labels can have conductive patterns disposed onthe back face of the labels and the conductive patterns can be incontact with the wires. The wires 260 can form a parallel or serieselectrical circuit with the conductive patterns of the labels.

The computing system 200 can execute the position engine 220. Theposition engine 220 can instruct the controller 255 to transmit anapplied voltage in the form of one or more electrical pulse to the wires260. An impedance can be altered when the one or more electrical pulsescomes interacts with the conductive pattern. The impedance can varybased on the differing conductive pattern on each label. The controller255 can detect impedance altered by the conductive pattern of eachlabel. Each conductive pattern can generate a unique impedance wheninteracting with the wire. The controller 255 can transmit the detectedimpedance to the position engine 220. The position engine 220 canidentify each label by querying the facilities database 245 using theimpedance generated by the conductive pattern of the label.

The controller 220 can further calculate the time delay of a reflectedpulse received by the controller in response to the transmission of theelectrical pulse by the controller. As mentioned above, the labels canbe disposed along the electrical circuit in a fashion which alternatesthe electrical circuit from a parallel to series circuit. The controller220 can determine the time delay of an electrical pulse reflecting offof a label and returning to the power supply. Furthermore, theconductive patterns can alter the effective impedance of the wires 260.The controller 255 can transmit the impedance and time-delay to theposition engine 220. Based on the calculated time-delay the positionengine 220 can determine the position of each label on the shelvingunit. For example, the position engine 220 can determine travel time ofthe one or more electrical pulses to the label, and based on the lengthof the wires 260 the position engine 220 can determine the position thelabel is disposed on the shelf.

The position engine 220 can query the facilities database 245 using thedetected impedance to determine the designated position of the labels.In some embodiments, the labels can be printed by a label printer (e.g.,as shown in FIG. 3) in a predetermined order such that specific labelshave specific conductive patterns on them. Based on the order that thelabels are printed, the impedance of the conductive pattern on each ofthe labels can be stored in the facilities database 245. For example, afirst label can be printed and associated with a first conduct pattern(having a first impedance), and the association between the first labeland first conductive pattern can be stored. Additionally, the locationalong a shelf that the labels are to be positioned can be associatedwith the labels, and therefore, can be associated with the conductivepatterns on the labels such that the system can determine where a labelis supposed to be placed (e.g., based on an association between thelabel and the designated location) and whether that label is actuallyplaced there (e.g., based on the impedance of the conductive pattern onthe label). Furthermore, the physical objects to which the impedance iscorrelated can also be stored in the facilities database 245.

In some embodiments, a label printer can determine the impedance ofconductive patterns on the labels as it prints the labels and/or canprint the conductive patterns on each of the label as the label isprinted, and the facilities database 245 can be updated with the printedand/or determined impedance, the correlated physical objects, and thelocation at which the label is supposed to be placed on a shelf.

The position engine 220 can compare the determined position of thelabels with the designated position of the labels and determine whethera label in the incorrect position on the shelving unit. The positionengine 220 in response to determining a label is in the incorrectposition. In some embodiments, the position engine 220 can determine alabel is missing from the shelving unit based on not detecting anexpected generated impedance. For example, the position engine 220 canreceive from the controller 255 a first impedance generated by a firstconductive pattern of a first label and a second impedance generated bya second conductive pattern of a second label. The position engine 220can also determine the position of the first and second labels based onthe time-delay of the one or more electrical pulses traveling to thefirst and second label, received from the controller 255. The positionengine 220 can query the facilities database 245 to retrieve theidentification of the first and second labels and the designatedpositions of the first and second labels. The position engine 220 candetermine a label is designated to be disposed between the first andsecond label based on the positions of the first and second labels. Theposition engine 220 can determine the label is missing because theimpedance of the missing label was not detected by the controller 255.The position engine 220 can transmit an alert in response to determininga label was missing from the shelving unit.

As a non-limiting example, the label position determination system 250can be implemented in a retail store. Products for sale can be disposedon shelving units 240 throughout the retail store. The shelving units240 can have product labels disposed on the front facing portion of theshelving unit 240. The labels can include machine-readable elementsencoded with identifiers associated with physical objects on theshelving units. Each identifier can be unique to each set of likephysical objects. The labels can be disposed at a specific location ofthe shelving unit 240, proximate to the set of like physical objects forwhich the label includes the machine-readable element encoded with theidentifier associated with the set of like physical objects. The labelscan have conductive patterns on the back face. Wires 260 can be disposedalong the front facing portion of the shelving unit behind the labelsinteracting with the conductive patterns. The conductive patterns cancreate an electrical circuit with the wires 260 to alter an effectiveimpedance of the wires 260.

The position engine 220 can instruct the controller 255 to transmit oneor more electrical pulses through wires 260. The conductive patterns ofthe labels can generate a unique impedance in response to interactingwith the one or more electrical pulses. The controller 255 can detectthe unique impedance for each label. The controller 255 can query thefacilities database 245 to determine the identification of the label.The controller 255 can also detect the time delay of a reflected one ormore electrical pulse. The controller 255 can transmit the time-delayand impedance to the position engine 220. The position engine 220 candetermine the time period between transmission of the one or moreelectrical pulse and a reflection of the electrical pulse from alocation of each of the labels. The position engine 220 can determinethe position of each of the labels based on the transmission time periodof the electrical pulse to the label. The position engine 220 can querythe facilities database 245 to retrieve the designated locations of thelabels. The position engine 220 can retrieve a planogram of the retailstore. The planogram can include all the designated locations of theproducts for sale along with the labels for the products. The positionengine 220 can compare the designated locations of the labels to thedetermined positions of the labels. The position engine 220 candetermine a label is missing or in the incorrect position in response tocomparing the designated locations and the determined positions of thelabels. The position engine 220 can transmit an alert to an employee ofthe retail store regarding the missing label or a label in an incorrectposition.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example computing device 300 forimplementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.Embodiments of the computing device 300 can implement embodiments of theposition engine 220. The computing device 300 can communicate with thecontroller on the shelving units to transmit electrical pulses and toreceive the detected time-delay and impedance. The computing device 300includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media for storingone or more computer-executable instructions or software forimplementing exemplary embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readablemedia may include, but are not limited to, one or more types of hardwarememory, non-transitory tangible media (for example, one or more magneticstorage disks, one or more optical disks, one or more flash drives, oneor more solid state disks), and the like. For example, memory 306included in the computing device 300 may store computer-readable andcomputer-executable instructions or software (e.g., applications 330such as the position engine 220) for implementing exemplary operationsof the computing device 300. The computing device 300 also includesconfigurable and/or programmable processor 302 and associated core(s)304, and optionally, one or more additional configurable and/orprogrammable processor(s) 302′ and associated core(s) 304′ (for example,in the case of computer systems having multiple processors/cores), forexecuting computer-readable and computer-executable instructions orsoftware stored in the memory 306 and other programs for implementingexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Processor 302 andprocessor(s) 302′ may each be a single core processor or multiple core(304 and 304′) processor. Either or both of processor 302 andprocessor(s) 302′ may be configured to execute one or more of theinstructions described in connection with computing device 300.

Virtualization may be employed in the computing device 300 so thatinfrastructure and resources in the computing device 300 may be shareddynamically. A virtual machine 312 may be provided to handle a processrunning on multiple processors so that the process appears to be usingonly one computing resource rather than multiple computing resources.Multiple virtual machines may also be used with one processor.

Memory 306 may include a computer system memory or random access memory,such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, and the like. Memory 306 may include othertypes of memory as well, or combinations thereof.

A user may interact with the computing device 300 through a visualdisplay device 314, such as a computer monitor, which may display one ormore graphical user interfaces 316, multi touch interface 320 and apointing device 318. The computing device 300 can also include a printer332. The printer 332 can be configured to print labels in response toinstructions from the processing device 302. For example, in exemplaryembodiments, the printer 332 can print labels that includemachine-readable elements encoded with unique identifiers on a firstside of the label and/or that include conductive patterns on a secondside of the label, as described herein.

The computing device 300 may also include one or more storage devices326, such as a hard-drive, CD-ROM, or other computer readable media, forstoring data and computer-readable instructions and/or software thatimplement exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure (e.g.,applications 330 e.g. the controller 220). For example, exemplarystorage device 326 can include one or more databases 328 for storinginformation regarding the physical objects and labels. The databases 328may be updated manually or automatically at any suitable time to add,delete, and/or update one or more data items in the databases.

The computing device 300 can include a network interface 308 configuredto interface via one or more network devices 324 with one or morenetworks, for example, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN)or the Internet through a variety of connections including, but notlimited to, standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (for example,802.11, T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (for example, ISDN,Frame Relay, ATM), wireless connections, controller area network (CAN),or some combination of any or all of the above. In exemplaryembodiments, the computing system can include one or more antennas 322to facilitate wireless communication (e.g., via the network interface)between the computing device 300 and a network and/or between thecomputing device 300 and other computing devices. The network interface308 may include a built-in network adapter, network interface card,PCMCIA network card, card bus network adapter, wireless network adapter,USB network adapter, modem or any other device suitable for interfacingthe computing device 300 to any type of network capable of communicationand performing the operations described herein.

The computing device 300 may run any operating system 310, such as anyof the versions of the Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, thedifferent releases of the Unix and Linux operating systems, any versionof the MacOS® for Macintosh computers, any embedded operating system,any real-time operating system, any open source operating system, anyproprietary operating system, or any other operating system capable ofrunning on the computing device 300 and performing the operationsdescribed herein. In exemplary embodiments, the operating system 310 maybe run in native mode or emulated mode. In an exemplary embodiment, theoperating system 310 may be run on one or more cloud machine instances.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process implemented by an labelposition determination system according to exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In operation 400, labels (e.g. labels 106 and 114a-c as shown in FIGS. 1A-B) disposed on the front facing portion (e.g.front facing portion 104 a-c and 110 as shown in FIGS. 1A-B) of ashelving unit (e.g. shelving unit 100 and 240 as shown in FIGS. 1A and2) can be electrically coupled with one or more wires (e.g. wires 112a-b, 152-154 and 260 as shown in FIGS. 1B, 1D and 2) also disposed onthe front facing portion of the shelving unit. The labels can includemachine-readable elements encoded with identifiers associated withphysical objects (e.g. physical objects 108 as shown in FIG. 1A). Thelabels can have passive conductive patterns (e.g. conductive patterns122 a-b as shown in FIG. 1C) on the back face (e.g. back face 120 a-b asshown in FIG. 1C) of the labels. The conductive patterns of the labelscan be electrically coupled with the wires. The conductive patterns cancreate parallel and series electrical connections with the wires. Thecomputing system (e.g. computing system 200 as shown in FIG. 2) canexecute the position engine (e.g. position engine 220 as shown in FIG.2) In operation 402, a controller (e.g. controller 116, 130 and 255 asshown in FIGS. 1A, 1D and 2) can transmit one or more electrical pulsesthrough the wires.

In operation 404, the controller can detect an impedance generated byeach of the conductive patterns based on an interaction of the one ormore electrical pulses and each of the conductive patterns. Theconductive patterns can alter the effective impedance of the wires. Thegenerated impedance can be unique for each label based on the conductivepattern of the label. In operation 406, the controller can query thefacilities database (e.g. facilities database 245 in FIG. 2) to retrievethe identification of the label using the detected impedance. Inoperation 408, the controller can calculate the time delay of areflected pulse received by the controller. The controller can calculatethe time delay by determining the time period between transmission ofthe electrical pulse and a reflection of the electrical pulse from alocation of each label on the shelving unit. The controller can transmitthe detected time-delay and impedance to the position engine. Inoperation 410, in response to receiving the time delay the positionengine can determine the positions of each label on the shelving unitbased on the determined time delay for each label on the shelving unit.In operation 412, the position engine can query the facilities databaseto retrieve the designated location of the labels using theidentification of the labels as determined based on the impedances ofthe conductive patterns on the labels. In operation 414, the positionengine can compare the designated position labels with determinedpositions of the labels. In operation 416, the position engine candetermine at least one label is in an incorrect position or missing fromthe shelving unit based on the comparison. In operation 418, theposition engine can transmit an alert based on the missing label and/orthe label in the in correct position.

In describing exemplary embodiments, specific terminology is used forthe sake of clarity. For purposes of description, each specific term isintended to at least include all technical and functional equivalentsthat operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.Additionally, in some instances where a particular exemplary embodimentincludes a plurality of system elements, device components or methodsteps, those elements, components or steps may be replaced with a singleelement, component or step. Likewise, a single element, component orstep may be replaced with a plurality of elements, components or stepsthat serve the same purpose. Moreover, while exemplary embodiments havebeen shown and described with references to particular embodimentsthereof, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that varioussubstitutions and alterations in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Furtherstill, other aspects, functions and advantages are also within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Exemplary flowcharts are provided herein for illustrative purposes andare non-limiting examples of methods. One of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that exemplary methods may include more or fewer stepsthan those illustrated in the exemplary flowcharts, and that the stepsin the exemplary flowcharts may be performed in a different order thanthe order shown in the illustrative flowcharts.

We claim:
 1. A label position monitoring system, the system comprising:a shelving unit disposed in a facility having a shelf with a front face;a plurality of electrically conductive wires extending along the frontface of the shelf; a set of labels configured to be disposed along thefront face of the shelf, each of the labels having a front surface thatincludes a machine-readable element and a back surface upon which one ofa plurality of passive conductive patterns is disposed, each one of theplurality of passive conductive patterns on the back surface of each ofthe labels has an impedance and is configured to electrically couple toat least one of the plurality of conductive wires to generate differentcircuits with different effective impedances, where the differentcircuits and the effective impedances change based on a number of labelscoupled to the plurality of conductive wires; a controller electricallycoupled to the plurality of electrically conductive wires, thecontroller being configured to: transmit an electrical pulse through agenerated one of the different circuits; and determine, based on aresponse of the electrical pulse to the change in effective impedancesof the generated one of the different circuits, at least one of (i) anidentity of each label mounted to the front face, (ii) at least one ofthe labels from the set has been mounted at an incorrect location on thefront face of the shelf, or (iii) at least one of the labels is missingfrom the front face of the shelf.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is in communication with an impedance database configured tostore impedances of the different circuits based on the location of thelabel in the facility, and the controller is further configured to:detect an impedance of the different circuits based on an interaction ofthe electrical pulse and the different circuits; and query impedancedatabase to identify each label by comparing the detected impedance ofthe different circuits with the stored impedance of the differentcircuits.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: calculate the time delay of a reflected pulse received bythe controller in response to transmission of the electrical pulse bythe controller; calculate a position of the at least one of the labelsbased on the time delay; determine that the position of the at least oneof the labels is incorrect; and transmit an alert in response todetermining the position of the at least one of the labels is incorrect.4. The system of claim 3, wherein to change the effective impedance ofthe different circuits based on the location of the label in thefacility, the plurality of passive conductive patterns are formed tocreate parallel electrical connections with at least one of theplurality of electrically conductive wires to alter an effectiveimpedance of the at least one of the plurality of electricallyconductive wires.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein calculating the timedelay further includes determining a time period between transmission ofthe electrical pulse and a reflection of the electrical pulse from alocation at which at least one of the labels is mounted.
 6. The systemof claim 5, wherein calculating the position of the at least one of thelabels along the front face of the shelf is based on the time period. 7.The system of claim 6, wherein a planogram of the facility including thedesignated positions of each label is stored in the database.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein determining the position of the at least onelabel is incorrect further includes querying the database to retrievethe planogram, comparing the determined position of the at least onelabel with the designated position of the label in the planogram.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein each of the conductive patterns generates aunique impedance for each label.
 10. The system in claim 9, wherein thecontroller is further configured to query the database to identify thelabel based on the unique impedance.
 11. A label position monitoringmethod, the method comprising: electrically coupling, labels along afront face of a shelf of a shelving unit, each of the labels having afront surface that includes a machine-readable element and a backsurface upon which one of a plurality of passive conductive patterns isdisposed, each one of the plurality of passive conductive patterns onthe back surface of each of the labels having an impedance and beingelectrically coupled to at least one of a plurality of electricallyconductive wires extending along a front face of a shelf to generatedifferent circuits with different effective impedances, where thedifferent circuits and the effective impedances change based on a numberof labels coupled to the plurality of conductive wires; transmitting,via a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of electricallyconductive wires an electrical pulse through a generated one of thedifferent circuits; determining, based on a response to the electricalpulse to the change in effective impedances of the generated one of thedifferent circuits, via the controller, at least one of: an identity ofeach of the labels mounted to the front face, at least one of the labelshas been mounted at an incorrect location on the front face of theshelf, or at least one of the labels is missing from the front face ofthe shelf.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: detecting,via the controller, an impedance of the different circuits based on aninteraction of the electrical pulse and the different circuits; andquerying, via the controller, an impedance database, to identify eachlabel by comparing the detected impedance of the different circuits withthe stored impedance in the impedance database for different circuitsbased on the location of the label in the facility.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: calculating, via the controller, a timedelay of a reflected pulse received by the controller in response totransmission of the electrical pulse by the controller; determining, viathe controller, a position of the at least one of the labels along thefront face of the shelf is incorrect; and transmitting, via thecontroller, an alert in response to determining the position of the atleast one of the labels is incorrect.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein to change the effective impedance of the different circuitsbased on the location of the label in the facility, the plurality ofpassive conductive patterns are formed to create parallel electricalconnections or series electrical connections with at least one of theplurality of electrically conductive wires to alter an effectiveimpedance of the at least one of the plurality of electricallyconductive wires.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprisingcalculating the time delay further by determining a time period betweentransmission of the electrical pulse and a reflection of the electricalpulse from a location at which at least one of the labels is mounted.16. The method of claim 15, further comprising calculating, via thecontroller, the position of the at least one of the labels along thefront face of the shelf is based on the time period.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein a planogram of the facility including the designatedpositions of each of the labels is stored in the impedance database. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein determining the position of the at leastone of the labels is incorrect further comprising querying, via thecontroller, the impedance database to retrieve the planogram, comparingthe determined position of the at least one of labels with thedesignated position of the at least one of the labels in the planogram.19. The method of claim 18, further comprising generating, via each ofthe conductive patterns, a unique impedance for each of the labels. 20.The method of claim 19, further comprising querying, via the controller,the impedance database to identify each of the labels based on theunique impedance.